Apparently, I'm the Infamous Earl's Legendary Bride

Book 1: A Girl in Another World - Chapter 10

She tightened her arms around me and smiled, tears rolling down her cheeks. "I'm no longer empty, Quinn. You're my daughter no matter who you are. You said so yourself, didn't you? That I'm your mother and you don't want to lose me. You said that if you leave, we all leave, that you won't be leaving me or Liam or Maria behind."

I widened my eyes. Obviously, I did not expect her to use my own words against me. Despite that, deep down, her words made me feel a sense of being wanted and cherished, which was nice.

Sobbing loudly, Maria stood and came to hug me from behind. "I love you, Quinn, and it doesn't matter who you are inside. I think it's a miracle that you came. I love my baby cousin Quinn and it's sad that she's... gone because of me, because of that day..." She hiccupped. "The Goddess Iella is giving us another chance and you, Quinn, came into our lives. I know it hasn't been long on your part, but for us, Quinn is Quinn. Don't say we have nothing to do with each other like we're strangers. It hurts."

Liam, his face hard, came and wrapped his arms around both me and Maria. He planted his lips on my head. "Quinn, don't leave us. We're in this together. I'm not about to let you go to Norsewood alone. We're family."

Maria nodded furiously.

I took in a deep breath. I couldn't believe how the whole situation had turned out. I wanted them to live their own lives freely with no worries, and here they chose to follow me into the unknown.

Maria snuggled her face against my nape and asked, "What about you, Quinn? Do you love us, too?"

Was it just me or did she sound a little desperate?

I chuckled and said, "I do. I lost my family when I was sixteen, so having a new family now is nice."

Liam finally moved back, and Maria did as well. We took a seat around the table, and despite the fact I wasn't going to run off anywhere, both Elizabeth and Maria wouldn't let go of my hands.

Liam, sitting opposite me, asked, "You lost your parents when you were sixteen. That was two years ago. You must still mourn their death."

I said, "Actually, that was nine years ago. I was twenty-five in my previous life."

Maria dropped her mouth open. "Twenty-five? Five years older than me? You're older than Liam."

I nodded. "Mm-hmm."

Stroking my hand, Elizabeth said, "Tell us about your life where you came from. Was it... very different from this one?"

I nodded; I couldn't believe they took all this so calmly. I mean, I was a girl from another world and had incarnated into their loved one's body. Was it normal to not question the validity or logic of how things worked in this world? Then again, there was magic and monsters, so any sort of logic that was normal back on Earth would be different here. I should just take it for granted that anything that was abnormal was normal here, and miracles did happen.

I said, "Yes, very different. My name was Quinn Chen. My father was a Chinese American and my mother was an American woman with ancestors from Europe—the Netherland, Swedish, Irish, and Scottish, and there was a bit of Spanish in there as well. My childhood was delightful. My parents took me traveling a lot, to China, Dad's ancestors' homeland, to the Netherlands, Sweden, Ireland, Scotland, and Spain, obviously because it was Mom's ancestors' homelands, but also to other countries, too, like Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, France, Germany, Italy, England, and more."

Maria said, "Your family must be very wealthy. Were your family of noble bloodline?"

I shook my head, chuckling softly. "No, where I was from, we're just middle class, or maybe slightly upper-middle class. Both Mom and Dad worked in a highly professional field. They both were professors at a university."